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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-01-13, Page 3THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JANUARY 13 1988 — 3 student exchan a g sees her first Christmas j • FIRST CANADIAN WINTER - Mayuko Yoshioka is bundled up by Janneke Murray who has had to educate the Japanese exchange student about Canadian winters. Before coming to Canada Mayuko had never owned a pair of winter boots or seen more than a few inches of snow. Mayuko celebrated her first Canadian Christmas and New Years on the RR 5 Seaforth farm of Jim and Janneke Murray this year. Corbett photo. Mayuko Yoshioka, a Japanese exchange student who is staying at the RR 5 Seaforth farm off Jim and Janneke, • yex- perienced her first Canadian Chas and New Years celebrations this year. Mayuko came to the Murray farm in August, and has been enjoying her stay in Canada so much she put in the yearbook at Seaforth District High School her future plans are to become a Canadian citizen. Mayuko is 18 -years -old, and went from the city of Kobe, Japan -a city that houses over two million people- to rural Ontario. She has been getting along well in Canada, but it still has a lot of surprises for her. Cultural differences came largely to the forefront over the Christmas holidays. There is a lot of contrast between the way the Japanese celebrate Christmas and New Year's and the way Canadians do. The biggest difference is there is a lot more emphasis on New Year's in Japan than there is on Christmas. Mayuko says on- ly about 3 or 4 per cent of the population in Japan is Christian, so for them there is little religious significance in December 25. Mayuko knows the importance the west places upon Christmas, because she went to a private girls school that was once a mis- sion school in Japan, and was taught about the Christian religion. "Christmas time is a time for fun in Japan," says •Mayuko. Some families decorate small Christmas trees, eat cakes, and play games. Christmas is nothing elaborate, and it is not even regarded as a business holiday. So Mayuko enjoyed some of the Canadian Christmas customs as she had never seen them before - except through television. The Japanese don't exchange gifts on Christmas day, and she had a good time unwrapping her first Christmas presents. She received many gifts including earrings, bubble bath, and a Japanese teacup. Teacups in Japan don't have handles on them, and Mayuko found a handle just gets in her way. So the specially made handleless cup was a welcome, present. Mayuko also enjoyed decorating a big Christmas tree, and meetineiand visiting the Murray's friends and relatives. - The Murrays and their company also had a taste of Japan over the holidays, because Mayuko's parents sent her a whole box full of candies and snacks as a reminder of her homeland. New Years Eve was another new ex- perience for Mayuko. In Japan New Years is a time to be with family and relatives, but for the first time Mayuko went to a New Year's Eve party. She said the only place she had seen a New Year's party was on television, but this year at the Brussels arena elle saw the classic western New Year's Eve complete with a balloon drop, horns and noisemakers, party hats, and hundreds of people hollering at midnight. In Japan New Year's is celebrated with the same fervor with which Canadians celebrate Christmas. In the week before New Years families dedicate a lot of time to cleaning their homes to make them spotless for the upcoming year, and homes are even decorated for New Year's. It is also a time for families to spend time together, much like Canadians do at Christmas. Mayuko says the Japanese women wearos, the traditional dress off Japan, for Ne ear's_ They play games such as card games, fly kites, and do other Japanese leisure activities. There are New Years songs to sing, like we sing Christmas carols, and there is a special food called Osechi that is our turkey equivalent. Osechi is a variety of different foods which are put in trays, and the trays are stacked on top of each other and baked. At midnight Mayuko likes to phone her friends to wish them her best in the new year, and this is a tradition she continued this year as she phoned her mother and a friend on New Year's morning. On New Yhar's morning it Japan the peo- ple go to a shrine or temple to pray for a good new year. The people pray for everything from good health to success on school entrance examinations. Mayuko says there are also a lot of people in Japan who like to watch the first sunrise of the year as it appears on New Year's morning. Theonly disappointment Mayuko had through the entire holiday was that she didn't get a white Christmas, but the weather in recent days bas shown her what she was missing. "Now I feel like I'm really in Canada," says Mayuko. She says she still can't believe it on the news when they say it is -14 degrees outside, and Mrs. Murray says some nights Mayuko will throw on her jacket and go outside to check the thermometer. She said her eyes were wide the first time she heard the weather forecaster say the temperature was minus 10, she had seen one digit in the minus before, but never two. Slowly Mayuko is getting used to the Canadian winters, but she is learning the hard way. Once she had a shower in the morning and went to catch the bus for school without drying her hair. Her hair was un- frozen by the time she got to school. Mayuko also has a few bruises from some spills she has taken, as she seems to have a harder time walking on snow and ice than we do. Once she went to town with her friends at lunchtime wearing her shoes and she lost 'balance five or six times. At the Murray'a she is constantly falling and it has gotten to be such a joke that Mr. Murray will hang onto her to make sure she gets from the house to the car safely. Before she goes back to Japan in J Mayuko hopes to see a lot of North America. Already the Murrays have taken her to Florida. The family took a motorhome and went to see Disney World, the Kennedy Space Centre, a Budweiser 'beer factory, and the mansions on west Palm Beach. Mayuko will be going to Ottawa for the first week in February and will see the na- tion's capital from a helicopter. There she will be seeing the other exchange students she befriended on the way to Ontario. "I can't wait to meet ray friends again. Even though we were only together a few days it seems like we are sisters," says Mayuko. One of her friends comes from Thailand and another from Indonesia. They haven't known each other long, but they are going through the same experiences and have a lot to talk about. Mayuko thinks Canada is a nice country, but she also keeps saying that it's so empty here. Japan is 48 times smaller than Canada, but has a population of 150 million. Even in what they call the country the houses are so close you can see in the, neighbor's windows, and she hadn't seen a gravel road (except in back alleys) until she came to Canada. Mrs. Murray says she has noticed changes in Mayuko over the past months, and she is slowly becoming Canadianized. When Mayuko first arrived in Canada the Murrays worried about her because she was so . studious. Long after the Murrays had gone to bed Mayuko would still be up study- ing, and she had never missed a day of school. But last month she was heard saying "I hope it snows again so we don't have to go to school" She's learning to be Canadian. Mrs. Murray is impressed by how fast Mayuko has picked up the english language. She said Mayuko "has done absolutely, fan- tastically well," and can speak for hours without having to ask what something means or to consult her Japanese/English `�, dictionary. In fact she has picked up on english so well that when she called her ,pother on New Year's, her mother told her that she still spoke Japanese but it sounds like English Mayuko has been getting along well, hav- ing a lot of fun and seeing a lot during her stay in Canada. She has been here for four months, but says it has really gone quickly. In seven months she will go home, but she promised to come back to have a white Christmas. Karate is a family affair for some In the orient karate is as much a way of life as it is a means of self defense. It has much more than a physical effect on those who practice it in the far east, and the same is true for those who practice it in the west Larry and Debbie McGrath of Seaforth have not only been participating -in karate themselves, but have made it a family af- fair. Their two sons, Craig and Mark, have been involved in karate for two years. Twice a week the family goes to the Seaforth- Mitchell Karate Club in Seaforth to work out and learn martial arts. Mrs. McGrath says her boys joined the club for reasons typical of young boys - they were basically eager to learn how to beat people up like their favorite T.V. tough guys. But Mrs. McGrath says the instruc- tion her sons have received at the club has taught them a lot of responsibility, and neither has been in a fight since starting karate instruction. She says they have_ learned to fight, but they have also learned to walk away. Mr. and Mrs. McGrath started the club after seeing an International Jujitsu demonstration in Mitchell They were im- pressed by the fact that small people could defend themselves against large opponents using technique instead of force. But while they may have started the club for self defense, the main reason the McGraths at- tend now is to stay in shape. But there are other reasons the McGraths continue their karate instruction. Mrs. McGrath says karate has helped her family mentally and spiritually, as well as physically. There is, for example, a lot of self discipline in karate, and Mrs. McGrath has noticed her boys are more responsible than they were when they started the club two years ago, and they have been taught respect for their art and for other people. Craig and Mark started with a lot of their friends, but their friends quit when the training got too hard. Craig and Mark stuck it out and now the boys have something show for it Craig, who is 13, has a t and Mark, who is 11, has a blue belt belt progression in karate is white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black, so the younger Mark has came a long way in two years. He is now teaching other kids his age who are starting in the club. Mr. and Mrs. McGrath both have orange belts and say practising karate mast have added 20 years to their lives. It has given them stamina, flexibility, speed, and better health in general. And it has given them some peace of mind. "I know my boys wouldn't have any pro- blem if they had up to two people' after them," says Mrs. McGrath, adding that at his last grading to receive the blue belt Mark did have two people come 'at him in a mock attack. Mrs. McGrath says the first few months are the hardest. The first hour of each ses- sion is spent in exercise, and the second hour is for learning techniques. Tpp start with, a white belt has to learn balancce, tl;¢ basic kicks, and the basic punches_ But onch those first few months are over and you are in shape it gets a lot easier. She says it was a big help to her to be attending the club as a family, because there were some days when she just didn't feel like going, but the rest of the family was and it added incentive and support.ti Mrs. McGrath says there is a lot to learn in the club, and she thinks young people may have a bit of an advantage in that they pick things up easier. Club members have to learn to speak some Japanese to learn the names for the kicks, punches, blocks, stances and numbers. The children have another advantage in their physical flex- ibility, and therefore progress faster. The McGraths participate as a family in other sports besides Karate. They cross - county ski, golf and go fishing. KARATE FAMILY - Larry arid Debbie McGrath and their two boys Craig and Mark are one of the few Seaforth families who participate in Karate as a family. The McGraths say they started the martial art for self defense, but now see more value in it for physical conditioning. Corbett photo. Van Egmond Foundation to BY CORD WRIGHT Once again the VanEgmond Foundation of Eginondvilie, Ontario presents "A Nicht Wi' Burns" on January 21. Seaforth and area Scets and nenScots alike will celebrate the birth of Scotland's Poet - Songwriter with the traditional Burns Supper and a Scottish Concert in The Royal Canadian Legion Hall, Seaforth, Ont. Survey Burns was born on January 25, 1759 in a small clay cottage at Alloway on the west coast of Scotland. ed.cottage which still stands was buil by his fa with clay and stones culled'from the local fields, and the cottage is now a small museum. Robert was the eldest of seven children and at, a very young age showed signs of genius at writing ahycue and song. Although sponsor a Night Wi'Burns January 21 he lived only 37 years, he wrote over 350 poems and songs in the last ten years of his life. He is revered as no other man of letters, and Burns Day is a celebration not accorded any other song writer in the world. Xhe En- cyclopedia Britannica calls him 'without doubt the greatest songwriter Britain has produced, and his presence is still with us to- day in such standards as Auld Lang Syne, • from page LA organizations," Mr Hayter pointed out As to how employers could best use tlu4' e results, Mr. Hayter suggested they. take a look at their present employees and see if they can do better. "Let the employees know you care," he said. "It could help keep employees if we show interest in their education." QUESTION PERIOD During question period, it was asked if agriculture would be inclrxierm the survey. Mr. Lookers explained that the listing they have for the survey that was obtained et the Huron County Planning Department didn't include farms, however they will be attemp- ting to get some information from the farm- ing section that includes six or seven employees- ' We contacted OMAF (Ontario Ministry eif Agriculture and Food), but they didn't /have a list," said Mr. Looker. 'We're still The needs survey will be conducted by Small Business Co ting Service at Wilfred Laurier U ersity with eight students and one teacher doing the work" subcommittee consisting of Mr. Dent, Mr. Rompf and Ms. McKenzie will also be look - •after the As to who will eyed, Ms. McKenzie said approximately 400 businesses in Huron County will be polled. The majority of these businesses will have 10 or more employees while some with fewer employees will be selected at random. The survey wall be conducted over the telephone with a presurvey call to set up an exact time for the actual survey. "They estimate it will take 15-20 minutes of your time," said Ms. McKenzie, adding that all the information will be confidential. The telephone calls to employers will begin the first week of February, and if everything goes as planned, the survey calls\ should conclude at the end of the month. The I final report should he available March 24 - "What wall happen to the report?" Ms. McKenzie asked. "It will be given to the employees_" Summing up what the survey is all about, Ms. McKenzie said the HCITC is going on "a fishing expedition. It will show us what type of existing training is in Huron County now and find out what is wanted." -QT'S IST The final speaker was Jim Hayter Jr. of Jim Hayter Cbev-Olds_ He said that once the survey was done, and the areas of training were identified, all businesses could take advantage of the results. "Smaller organizations can take advan- tage of the results as much as the bigger co digging." However, their problem was solved when Bill Allen of Centralia College said he had the list that was being sought There seemed to be -some confusion over whether apprenticeship programs would be able to qualify for funding from the govern- ments (which is now sponsoring 57 com- munity industrial training committees in Ontario, providing funding for one employee. (In Huron, the only paid employee of the committee is Fred Looker while the others are volunteers. ) Bob McDougall of the Canadian Employ- ment Centre said he thought any length of training could qualify for funding,whale Bob Simpson of Conestoga College flt the fun- ding was aimed more at general training. "But then again, its an election year - any thing could happen," said Mr. Simpson_ Summing up the apprenticeship issue, Mr. Looker said, "It's net an easy subject" The question was asked as to why the survey was being conducted by phone and Ms. McKentie said it was due to the time factor and the distance. "They will be making the calls from Waterloo on a WATTS line," she said. It was then suggested that a hard copy of the survey be sent out first, then when the calls come, the employer will be prepared. Ms. McKenzie said that the presurvey call will include some information on what the survey is all about. Explaining, she said that basic company data, cur i eat training prac- tises raytises and current training needs will be among the questions. "They (the experts) say the telephone method is more effective. Most surveys end up here," said Mr. Looker, motioning to the ground as if there were a garbage peal there. In Perth they did a survey by main and bad to get people to phone. Most of them said they had thrown it out. They bad to do it by phone eventually," said Mr. Simpson. ABO HCFFC The HCITC was in January of 1950 with activities ng own in 1984 due to a lack of manpower. At that time, there was no funding for a paid position, and the business people were too busy to devote the time that was needed. However, now that the government is sup- plying some funding, the . future of the HCITC is looking brighter. general meeting, January 8meeting was the second with the first general meeting held on July 15. The HCI T C's office is located at 50 South Street, Goderich and can be reached at 524.7732. Ae Fond Kiss, A Red, His Rose, and Green Grow Th hes 0! ode to a Haggis is recitea tally every year at an estimated 70,000 Burns Dinners around the world in such far away pafcow, Japan, South Africa, M co, New Zealand and Australia. Now what about this pudding called a Haggis which usually makes non -Sects squirm a little? The Sassenach (Englishman) finds the original container in which the haggis was cooked - namely a sheeps stomach - quite abhorrent, and yet gleefully consume their sausages wrapped in a pigs srhall intestine. Today's haggis is usually cooked in an Ox casing sewed up at each end, or a plastic container. Just think of it a big sausage. Its contents contain beef heart, r . _ , oatmeal, page 11• beef, as liver, Turn - DIVIMUNIT T CALENDA_, If you're organizing a non-profit event of interest to other Seaforth area residents. p recreation office at 527-0882 or the Expositor at 527-0240, or mail the information to Co ty Calendar. The Huron Expositor, Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario. NOK 1WO well rn advance of scheduled date Space for the Communr,i Calendar is donated by The Huron Expositor Wed. Jan 13 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Yoga at Arena 1-3 p.m. Moms, Dads and Tots 1:30-4 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard 4:30-5:30 p.m. Tween Ringette practice 5:30-6:30 p.m. Atom 1 practice 6:30-7:30 p.m. Centenaires practice 7:30-9 p.m. Minor Broomball 9-11 p.m. Ladies' Broomball 8-10 p.m. Mixed Volleyball at SDHS 8-9 p.m. Fitness is Fun - at Arena Thurs. Jan. 14 9-10 a.m. Fitness is Fun at Arena 12 Noon Book Club Seaforth LibraiZj 4:30-5:30 p.m. Novice practice 5:30-6:30 p.m. Bantam practice 6:30-7:30 p.m. Minor Broomball 7:30-9:30 p.m. Men's Basketball at SDHS 7:30-12:30 p.m. Men's Broomball Fri. Jan. 15 4-5 p.m. Senior Houseleague practice 5-6 p.m. Junior Houseleague practice 6-7 p.m. Midget practice 7-10 p.m. Atom Hockey Tournament Sat, Jan. 16 8:30.11:30 p.m. Seaforth Optimist 15th Annual Atom Hockey Tournament 1:30 - 2:30 Story Hour at the Library - 9-1 p.m. winter Carnival Dance at Arena Sun. Jan. 17 9-0 p.m. Atom Tournament 8-9:30 p.m. Hawks vs. Flyers 9:30 - 11 p.m. Penguins vs. Bruins Mon. Jan. 18 4:30-8:30 p.m. Figure Skating 7:30-9:30 p.m. Wood Refinishing Tues. Jan. 19 5:30-610 p.m. Atom 2 practice 6:30 - 8 p.m. Bantams vs. Clinton 8-10 p.m. Midgets vs. Clinton. Wed. Jan. 20 1-3 p.m. Moms. Dads and Tots 1:30-4 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard 4:30-5:30 p.m. Tween Ringette practice 5:30-6:30 p.m. Atom 1 practice 6:30-7:30 p.m. Centenaire practice 7:30-9 p.m. Minor Broomball 9-11 p.m. Ladies' Broomball 8-10 p.m. Mixed,,Volleybalt at SONS 8-9 p.m. Fitness is Fun 1